Time flies. By the time Zhang Hongmei received the news, Zhu Zi's eldest son, Li Qihong, had already been born.
Han Mei gave birth at home instead of at the hospital. Because none of the women who gave birth managed to go to the hospital, Han Mei suffered the least.
After finishing lunch, Zhang Hongmei went straight to Zhu Zi's house.
Lu Jing had already packed all the gifts, and they drove straight there.
The child wasn't very big, which is why Han Mei gave birth so quickly.
Zhu Zi's mother and Li Cuihua were overjoyed. Zhu Zi was the eldest son in the family and was almost thirty years old when they finally had a son. How could they not be happy?
Looking at the baby with his eyes closed in the swaddling clothes, Zhang Hongmei felt that life was truly miraculous; this child was almost a carbon copy of Zhu Zi. Usually, the firstborn boy resembles his mother, but this child was different.
"Brother Zhu, have you decided on a name yet?"
"Call him Li Qihong!"
"This is a good name."
Lu Jing put all the gifts down, and at three o'clock, Zhang Hongmei went home.
It's already late July, and the weather is so hot. It's really tough to have a baby at this time of year.
After entering August, Liu Jingsong also took a vacation, so the five children were not affected in any way.
They still practice every morning, and now they've mastered the horse stance, and they do it quite well.
Liu Jingze returned in mid-August.
He brought back all the reports and accounts from Haishi.
Lu Xinghe and three accountants are here to audit, and Zhang Hongmei is only responsible for listening to their reports.
"Brother Jingze, thank you for your hard work."
"It's not hard work. I'll be reporting back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tomorrow."
"Is there no time to rest?"
"No need." Liu Jingze felt he had a thousand words to say, but seeing Zhang Hongmei's face, he simply couldn't bring himself to speak.
"Hongmei, I'm going to check on the children."
"Yes, I'll go with you. The children don't know you yet."
Looking at Zhang Hongmei walking beside him, Liu Jingze really wanted to walk like this for the rest of his life.
The children were in class; this lesson was about recognizing characters. Liu Jingze felt gratified to see such young children able to sit still.
The two stood outside watching them until their class ended. Zhang Hongmei waved, and several children gathered around.
Liu Jingsong greeted Liu Jingze.
“This is your uncle Liu Jingze, but Wei Yu, he is also your godfather.”
Zhang Weiyu tilted his head and looked at Liu Jingze curiously.
“Weiyu, I am your father, Liu Jingze.”
"dad?"
"Yes, I'm your godfather. You can call me Dad from now on."
"But if you're with my dad, won't you know who I'm calling?"
"Then what do you suggest we do?"
"I'll call you godfather then."
“Okay!” Liu Jingze picked up Zhang Weiyu and looked at him.
He looks just like Hongmei; this must be my son.
"Weiyu, I'm so happy!"
“I am also very happy with my godfather.”
The other children also gathered around Liu Jingze. He put down the third child, nodded to Zhang Hongmei, and led them to play in the yard.
Zhang Hongmei felt helpless about Liu Jingze's behavior. Wasn't this a burden too?
Liu Jingze would come over every day after get off work to spend time with the children, which made Zhang Shouyi very unhappy.
"Brother Zhang, he can't take anything from you."
"I'm still not happy."
"That's childish of you."
Zhang Hongmei paid the price for those words.
Time flies, and Li Qihong's one-month celebration arrived. It was a big gathering, and all the people he knew came.
This young man has grown rapidly, gaining about 15 or 16 pounds in just one month. He looks fair and chubby, and Han Mei is taking good care of him. Even in this hot weather, the child hasn't developed prickly heat.
The old lady came over today too, holding Li Qihong in her arms.
"This boy is lucky; with his broad forehead, he'll be intelligent in the future."
"Second Aunt, thank you for your kind words." When Grandma Zhu received the call and heard that her great-grandson had been born, she endured her motion sickness and came over.
"Your good days are yet to come; the children in your family are all being raised very well."
"Hehe, that's great! I'll be waiting."
It was too hot, and Zhu Zi's house was small, so Liu Jingze took several children outside to play. Their martial arts instructor would also come along when they set off firecrackers.
Several children were running around happily in the street. Because they had a lot of schoolwork, the younger ones rarely had the chance to play outside.
"Brother, it's so much better outside. We've really had a tough time here," Zhang Weiyu said with feeling.
Zhang Zhenye snorted, "We call this hard work? Didn't you hear what Daniel said? He only gets seven hours of sleep a day, and even his meals are timed."
“Brother Daniel is older than us.”
Zhang Zhenye decided to ignore him. This kid is good at sweet-talking people. He talked to Daniel on the phone and was full of concern. Now he's saying the same thing again.
Liu Jingze followed behind them, watching the children fixated on the popsicles and sodas, unable to move.
Feeling both annoyed and amused, she asked, "What do you mean?"
"uncle."
"Godfather!"
"What do you mean?"
Zhang Zhenye glanced at his younger brothers. "Uncle, we've never had an ice pop before. We don't know what it tastes like. We'd like to try one."
"That's a good reason, Zhenye, you're very smart."
"Godfather, is it alright?" Zhang Weiyu looked at Liu Jingze pitifully.
"Alright, I'll make an exception today, but if your mother gets angry, you'll have to explain it yourselves."
The children fell silent. Although they were afraid of Zhang Shouyi, deep down they were most afraid of Zhang Hongmei.
These are seven children, one for each of them.
At that time, there were no freezers or anything like that; they were just stored in styrofoam boxes with quilts on top.
However, because of the hot weather, even though I was wrapped up tightly, a lot of it still melted.
Looking at the seven children's satisfied smiles, Liu Jingze felt that even if Zhang Hongmei complained, it was all worth it.
The children were very well-behaved; although the popsicles were delicious, after finishing one, none of them wanted another.
"It's too hot, and dinner will be served soon, let's go back."
"Godfather, will you take us out to play again tomorrow?"
"What about your studies, Weiyu? You can't just think about playing. I'll bring you soda after get off work tomorrow, but there's a condition: you have to study hard."
"We promise!"
Liu Jingze looked at the children running and playing wildly ahead, a gentle smile on his face that even he didn't realize was on his face.
They returned to Zhu Zi's house. Liu Jingze found Zhang Hongmei and said, "I bought each of them an ice pop."
"Let them eat then. I'll get a freezer and cook for them at home later."
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